CCI Small Pistol Primers the absolute worse! Help

[Tex1001]

I just worked out how much I can buy factory ammo at 1000 rounds vs reloading and I save $20 to $40 per 1000 rounds! Yikes definitely not worth reloading..lol

At this point in time I tend to agree with your numbers, but only in the context of current political climate. Right now good loaded ammo is plentiful and dirt cheap.
In 2004 the situation was very similar. Reloading was not economically feasible, so I didn't, but I kept my equipment and components for old times sake. Four years later I (And the buddies I reloaded for) were very glad I stockpiled components during the good years.

Stack'em deep while the gettin's good, kid.

 

[WR Moore]

Having started reloading over 50 years ago, I'm finding some stuff in this thread amusing. Waaaaay back then, one was supposed to make sure your primers were fully seated at the bottom of the primer pocket. That generally puts the top of the primer below the surface of the case head. If you look carefully at most factory ammo, the primers are below the surface of the case head because they're bottomed out in the primer pocket. Hand primer tools didn't exist.

Seating primers "by feel" seems to be one of those things that bench rest shooters or others seeking to minimize variation between each and every obsessively assembled round decided was "necessary". The various manufacturers jumped right on this as it was another revenue stream. The ammo factories don't seat primers by feel and that seems to work just fine. If you seat primers on the press while-but after-expanding the case necks, you can do 2 operations at the same time.

Somewhere back in the first 25 or so posts, we had the nub of the matter: tolerance stack. Primer pockets are formed by swaging, if the tools get a tad worn, the pockets become tighter than ideal. The primer cups are formed by a punch process in a die, again if parts get worn, the cups get a bit larger. Doesn't take much to cause issues.

I hate to mention another process that started with bench rest shooters, but I've found that seating primers in once fired military rifle brass is a lot easier if you uniform the primer pocket after swaging the crimp out. Yeah, it's another tedious step in initial case prep, but it pays in the long run. If you're using small primers, the same tool does both rifle and pistol cases.

 

[psquarejr]

Marathonrunner, glad you found out what the issue was, may your future reloading endeavors be trouble free.

 

[marathonrunner]

Marathonrunner, glad you found out what the issue was, may your future reloading endeavors be trouble free.

Well it was an expensive lesson. As it turned out the problem was not CCI primers but a defective Lyman Hand Primer tool. The first one I bought was also defective and the replacement I couldn't believe that too was bad. The 3rd one works perfect

 

[bigt5150]

I've never had an issue with CCI primers. I use them in my 38spl and 357 mag loads in my 686 and 19.

 

[Engineer1911]

Buy RCBS

Well it was an expensive lesson. As it turned out the problem was not CCI primers but a defective Lyman Hand Primer tool. The first one I bought was also defective and the replacement I couldn't believe that too was bad. The 3rd one works perfect

Maybe it is time to buy an RCBS bench mounted priming tool or use the primer seater on your Lyman press.

 

[rwsmith]

What are you shooting with?

Hey Guys

I don't know if I am the only one to experience this, but using whatever brass I find on the range floor to reload, I am getting lots of light primer strikes regardless which gun I try to shoot them from. I hear CCI are very hard comparied to Federal or Winchester but anyone here have bad experience with CCI primers?

What gun(s) are you using them in? Are all of them having problems? If it's a revolver, a loose strain screw is often the culprit.

 

[mmb617]

I'm just adding my two cents here. I've been using CCI small pistol primers in my 9mm reloads which are then fired from 3 different guns, two Smiths and a Ruger. No problems at all.

 

[mmb617]

I'm just adding my two cents here. I've been using CCI small pistol primers in my 9mm reloads which are then fired from 3 different guns, two Smiths and a Ruger. No problems at all.

Well I guess I jinxed myself with this post yesterday morning. We went to the range in the afternoon and my Ruger Security 9 had multiple light strike failures while the same ammo ran without any problems through both my M&P's.

I disassembled the firing pin and can't find anything wrong and the tunnel wasn't dirty at all on the Ruger. But then this gun has been nothing but trouble since I bought it a few months ago. My Smith's go bang every time I pull the trigger. Wish I could say the same for the Ruger but it's gotten to the point I'm not even surprised when there's a problem with it. Until now it's been mainly feed or eject problems so failure to fire is a new one.

I think I'll load up some rounds for it with a different brand of primer just to see if that makes a difference since I can't find anything wrong with the gun other than that it's an all around piece of excrement.

Rant over.

 

[Nightowl]

When I started reloading in the late 1960s, CCI primers were about the only primer one could find at the local gun stores. I have shot many thousands of small and large pistol CCI pistol primers. I never set my guns up for light hammer strike, so no problems with that after I learned you have to seat the primer to the bottom of the primer pocket.
However, some years back I had a box of 1000 small pistol primers that were so very hard to seat that almost all the primers had punch marks on them when seated to the bottom of the pocket. I had mixed brass, some had been shot many times, and they were still very, very tight!!

That was the last box of CCI primers I have bought. There are plenty of other brands to buy now that were hard to find way back then!! I never have any problems with Winchester primers fitting the primer pockets.

So many testimonials about the CCI primers makes me think that I had a really bad batch. Truthfully, they were the worst fitting I ever had in all the years I previously used them.

 

[stubshaft]

I've given up on CCI small pistol primers. I thought I had a bad batch of primers because even with solid primer strikes I still had failures to fire. I went to Federal 100's and had no further problems.

 

[MRB1]

The few light primer strikes I've had were all my fault - not the CCI primers. But surprisingly, I was seating just a tad TOO DEEP. (I still use the RCBS primer seater on my press). Just a hair below flush was enough to cause it.

 

[Rosco Shooter]

Last March, I loaded several hundred 40 S&W rounds with CCI small pistol primers for use in local gun club matches. After experiencing at least 5 failures to fire out of each 100 round batch, I decided to regulate this ammo to the practice bin. I loaded the rest of my ammo with Federal small pistol primers and had nary a problem. I was really disappointed as previously, CCI were my go to primers.

 

[Rule3]

 

[stansdds]

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Marshal Kane]

I am using lyman's hand primer tool and it very well may be I am not pressing hard enough and why they are not fully seated however they are sitting just below the pocket surface so I would think they are seated I will press harder and try again

I run the primer in until I feel it bottom out in the primer pocket, then, I give it a little more pressure to spread the anvil legs. I don't rely on the position of the primer whether proud, flush with the case head or below to tell me when to stop the seating. I want to feel the primer bottom in the primer pocket.